I think in 5 yrs their approach being streaming only won’t hurt em one bit as most gaming will be done that way at the high end imho. I do think it will really slow em down compared to MS/Xbox in the interim though and they already are way behind on content and relationships, so in 5 yrs time while imho their approach will be fine they will be even further behind in content.
Luna is cheaper for baseline compared to GP, but Luna is only doing its beta in that price range, like GP on PC was $5/mo until recently. Plus, important to note that ya gotta buy extra channels on Luna if ya want stuff beyond the baseline. I’d worry that on Luna pubs will all want their own channels and essentially raise the real world price for most of their audience a LOT.
So it’s The Amazon Prime model. Cheapest on paper, most expensive in execution. Oftentimes the approach will just be Base Luna + Game Pass, not unlike the common base Prime + Netflix arrangement we see. I wonder if you can use any controller on Luna like Stadia and XCloud.
Feels like Nintendo will be fine. They don’t have cloud saves, back compat, decent online, or even sales on their games and they still rake in the cash because people think extremely highly of their IP and they serve a market that’s mostly neglected by the other competitors (family friendly/kids).
Sony, well, idk.
They could end up as a niche for enthusiasts, putting out hardware to give you that artisanal local experience and access to their great games. But that’s a much smaller player, more Nintendo-like, than they are today.
They could make their own transition to service provider by building up PS Now. They certainly have a far stronger base for original content than either Google or Amazon. Even if they can’t buy out Ubisoft or whatever, they could bulk up with individual studios like Remedy or Japanese publishers that play to their current strengths and carve out a good chunk of the market I think. But they certainly are not showing that they will do this and risk making the pivot too late.
They get bought or sell off PlayStation to Amazon/Google/Facebook once they’ve been reduced to a shred of the market. But that seems unlikely to me and many years off, if ever. It assumes both that they fail to adapt and that these large cloud services become entirely dominant.
Here is another thing that consumers may not understand about Amazon. They don’t prescribe to that 70/30 split that most do. It’s typically more of an 85/15 split (no, the consumers aren’t going to see any of those savings) and that could be very attractive for third parties
OK…I know I’m probably reaching but I have a gut feeling that Amazon is eying Ubisoft right now bigly
There is no doubt that Microsoft getting Zenimax put Google and Amazon on high alert now. They know now more than ever that they need content and they’ll definitely throw down the big bucks to get it if they have to. Especially now that Satya flat out said they’re going to buy more devs. Google and Amazon can go head to head with MS in terms of spending power.
I like the idea of channels, the problem o have is how many channels will there be? The more channels there are the more you pay and it seems like you would get fewer games on the Luna+ channel.
Edit: The other HUGE problem currently, it is continental US only.
If you have amazon prime it works like there video service. Where you can get access to a selection of basic content but hten if you want hbo or starz, cbs, etc. you pay for that and it adds up real quick.
So in theory you would pay 6.99 for access to some basic games. Then you could subscribe to the EA channel, the Ubisoft channel, the take two channel, etc for an additional cost per channel.
exactly, I’m personally not investing in Xcloud until that shit decouples from GPU and starts supporting streaming games from library. That is, after it comes here XD
Agreed with your assessment. But the one problem I’ve had with GP is the lack of third party content that is available, and in some case wouldn’t mind paying more for access to it. It’s the main reason I don’t subscribe to GP on a monthly basis
A new challenger has arrived! With the enormous Prime customer base plus Twitch and a great cloud infrastructure, I think MS has their work cut out to stay ahead of the curve.
This upcoming gen is going to see so much change in the landscape. Imagine if Google actually steps it up with Stadia.
Im not sure if a streaming only gaming works by itself yet. I know the technology is there. But works in the sense that i can never download and just play this game natively. I like gamepass and i like xcloud. I use xcloud when im out and about or at work on a break and pop in for 10-30 minutes of gaming. its a nice supplementary service. But its not a replacement for downloading a gaming and playing it natively.
The mere thought of a Google or Amazon acquiring a beloved studio or publisher like Bethesda and put them to work on cloud exclusive games chills my spine.